The recent front office shufflings in Long island have earned the club a dubious title.

Just in case you missed the lunacy that is the NY Islanders’ franchise let me recap. After the end of a decade reign under GM Mike Milbury, a decade which saw Milbury trade away the likes of Wade Redden, Todd Bertuzzi, Bryan McCabe, Olli Jokinen, Roberto Luongo, Zdeno Chara and Jason Spezza for very little in return, things finally started to look up for the Islanders. The Isles hired former Rangers architect Neil Smith to run the team and matched him alongside new head coach and NHL blackball victim Ted Nolan.

Behind Smith as GM, Isles owner Charles Wang set up a management team that included Islanders alumni Pat Lafontaine, Bryan Trottier and Ken Morrow. Everything looked kosher during Smith’s first month in office as he managed to fill gaps on the team with several free agent signings and then all of a sudden, out of nowhere the announcement came down from the owner himself that Smith was being fired after only 40 days on the job; according to Wang, Smith apparently had difficulty fitting into his unconventional management-by-committee approach. Then the topper came, which officially earned the Isles the label as the league’s laughingstock when the owner personally decided to appoint Islanders back-up goalie, Garth Snow, as the club’s new GM. The crazy thing is, before he could accept the job the 37-year old Snow had to retire as a player and interestingly enough his player salary will remain on the books for the first two years of his tenure.

Let’s try to look at this rationally: Wang made a hire in Smith who didn’t mesh with the org structure and he addressed the problem quickly by letting him go. Alright, no problem, I’m with you so far. I guess it’s better to acknowledge a poor HR move before it festers into a much bigger problem. But then this story took a drastic ‘Fight Club’ type moment. But instead of having to comprehend a moment like Brad Pitt was Ed Norton’s alter ego all along we are forced to digest the fact that the dude who used to wear plywood across his shoulders is now the general manager of a franchise that once produced one of the greatest dynasties in NHL history.

Apparently Wang had considered Snow as a prime candidate during his initial search for a GM when he hired Neil Smith. “I spoke with Garth at length throughout the spring about the general manager's position and he really impressed me with his passion and his knowledge.” Hearing that justification I almost feel that I should have thrown my name in the hay. I could have referenced my fantasy leagues skills along with my video game franchise mode experience.

Even if Wang thought highly of Snow’s potential to succeed as a hockey executive why not start him off slow with an assistant GM position or another front office position where he could have learned about all aspects of sports executive life. The scary thing about the whole situation is what if Garth Snow pans out? Just imagine the uproar that would be generated across the league if a guy with zero managerial training, zero knowledge of negotiating contracts, and no ‘capology’ experience is suddenly able to walk into a job and perform it better than those who have the relevant experience and knowledge to perform the job. Wouldn’t this be the equivalent of a fan getting picked out of the stands only to hold their own in a sparring match against Floyd Mayweather Jr.?

Frankly this whole Garth Snow as GM strikes me the same as watching a toned-down version of Swingers on TBS. It’s just not right.

You can’t blame Snow though. For a career back-up goalie with little time left in his playing career this is a dream opportunity. So if this fails the blame has to be put squarely on Wang.  Based on this hiring move and previous attempts to send his scouts to Japan to scout sumo wrestlers for goaltending positions it certainly wouldn’t be a stretch to call

Charles Wang an eccentric. If he hadn’t already clinched his place in the Bad Sports Executives Hall of Fame with his prolonged devotion to Mike Milbury then he’s certainly earned his spot alongside recent inductees Isiah Thomas, Lonie Glieberman, Mike O’ Connell and Matt Millen with his latest antics.

I can’t wait until the fall. Watching the ‘Charles Wang Experiment’ work out over the next season will be a little like watching Colin Farrell during a live interview; it’ll be captivating, keep us on the edge of our seats, full of awkward moments and likely lots of profanity (from the Isles fans).